Avalanche
by shadowno
Summary: The operation of Avalanche vs the Shinra Electric Power Company
1. Chapter 1

Avalanche

A/N this is and A/U story. Enjoy

"Cloud, don't let him get away!" Tifa yelled.

Cloud spun around finding their target escaping through a door on the side of the warehouse. He sped after him, pushing a Shinra security soldier out of the way. Rufus Shinra heading up the organization that his father had started, fled from the attack on the Shinra storage located in the heart of there empire, the city of Midgar. He took off after him, just as the main doors to the warehouse burst open.

"Soldiers, real ones too!" Wedge yelled from the catwalk above.

Cloud whirled around. Yes there was no mistaking it; those were definitely men from the Soldier organization. Cloud rushed straight into them with his sword, swinging it madly around, soldiers fell around the former first class soldier. All of them wore blue, the sign of the third class. On the other side of the warehouse, Barret shot into a group of the Shinra security. Above on the catwalk, Biggs and Wedge battled it out with about a dozen of the Shinra security. Tifa was surrounded by the Soldiers, and Jesse was still hidden in her sniping position as far as Cloud knew. He kept fighting with all his heart, and eventually he stood alone, in the center of the bodies. The organization known as Avalanche regrouped, all of them have felling there foes.

"Alright, let's go after Rufus." Barret, the leader said, but another voice rang out in the empty building.

"I can't let you do that." The young blond said.

"Elena of the Turks, I should have known you'd guys get involved." Cloud responded.

"The Turks have been called out to protect the President of the Shinra electric power company. We will not lose to terrorist scum like you."

Barret stepped forward. "Terrorist only by title, it is you who truly terrorize the civilians. You own everything, and what you don't own, you steal! That is why we will stop you!"

Everyone stood silently for a moment, and then Elena drew her pistol.

"Die!" she yelled as she fired of the first shots.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first shot flew directly at Tifa, who dove out of the way. Biggs however, was not so lucky, standing directly behind Tifa. He took the bullet directly to his chest; he was dead before he hit the ground. Barret had his gun aimed and began firing. Elena was faster though, quickly diving behind a metal crate, Barret's bullets bouncing off of its surface. Jesse and Wedge quickly pulled Biggs behind cover, whilst Cloud and Tifa both ran for cover. Diving behind a barrel, Cloud looked around, noting that everyone was safely behind cover as Elena blindly fired round after round at each of them. That's when Cloud noticed it, the barrel Barret was hiding behind wasn't empty, it was leaking, yes, the smell was unmistakable.

"Barret, its gasoline!" Cloud warned.

Barret looked at the leak just as Elena fired off her lucky shot, hitting the barrel, causing a spark to fall into the puddle of gas.

"OH SHI…" Barret exclaimed as he turned to run, the explosion followed after he only took a few steps. Barret was thrown into a stack of wooden crates, smoke radiating off of him. Meanwhile, Tifa had taken the explosion as the distraction it was. She ran toward Elena, who had just noticed her threat, and was turning the gun towards her. She was too late; Tifa leapt into the air, and landed a kick firmly into Elena's Chest, causing her to fall to the ground. The gun left her hand as she landed, sliding along the floor. Tifa stomped into Elena's stomach as Cloud ran over to them. Tifa grabbed Elena by the collar and was about to strike her again when the bay doors slammed open. Two more Turks had entered the fray.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Each step echoed against the walls of the building as Reno and Rude approached Cloud and Tifa, Elena lying broken and forgotten on the floor. The two men stopped, and Reno tilted his head to get a view at Elena.

"I told you not to send the rookie to do a man's job." Reno said, smugly turning his head to look at Rude.

"…"

"Oh well, we'll take care of this ourselves." And with that, Reno hit the switch on his baton, extending it fully. Rude tightened his gloves, and raised his fists. Gunshots rang out, catching all four of the fighters attention. Barret was shooting at the two Turks. Rude quickly shot past Reno running full speed at Barret, dodging his attack. As he got close, Barret swung his fist at him, but Rude easily ducked it and threw and elbow at Barret's jaw. The blow staggered Barret, and another fist slammed against the side of his face. Finally, Barret was able to connect with his fist, stunning Rude. He then brought his knee up into Rude's gut, knocking the air out of him. He lowered his Gun arm at Reno and was about to fire when Rude hit him with a wicked upper cut. Barret staggered back, and looked up just as Rude's boot collided with his chest. Barret fell onto his back, as Rude jumped into the air, and landed one foot into his stomach. Barret grabbed the foot, and wrenched it, causing Rude to trip and fall next to him. Barret reached over and wrapped his hand around Rude's throat, strangling him. Rude's eyes bugled as he frantically pulled at Barret's hand. Finally, he hit Barret in the side hard, followed by a kick to the same spot. Barret released his grip, and Rude put his foot up and kicked hard against Barret's ribs. This caused them to slide away from each other on the floor. Rude jumped up as Barret just as quickly climbed to his feet. Rude ran full force at Barret and kicked him once again in the stomach. Barret brought up his fist but Rude easily deflected that, and hit Barret in the face. Barret responded by bringing up his gun arm in attempt to shoot him, but Rude was ready for it. He quickly ducked under Barret's arm and grabbed it by the wrist. Before Barret could react, Rude hit him with a lifting palm strike to the elbow. There was a loud crack and Barret groaned in pain as the bone snapped in two. Rude then grabbed Barret's broken arm with both hands and flung him into some stacked barrels. He approached him, ready to finish him off when the kick landed on the side of his head.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"If you want our leader, you'll have to go through us first." Jesse said.

"Yeah, and me too." Wedge added.

"You idiot," Jesse said annoyed. "I said us, which included you too."

"Oh right…"

With that, the two ran at Rude, Jesse jumped into the air as Wedge pulled his knife from its sheath. Rude ducked Jesse's kick, and twisted his body just enough that Wedge's knife barely slid past him, missing him. He quickly kicked wedges arm, causing him to drop the knife and stumble back, and then grabbed Jesse's leg as she kicked at him again, and through her into him. While the two tried to get back up, Rude quickly peeled his jacket off and dropped it to the ground. Then, after cracking his knuckles, he lunged at the two. Jesse saw this coming, and quickly put her leg against Wedge. She kicked off of him, pushing him out of the way, and jumping into the air just as Rude's fist missed them both. She jumped against a large crate, and flew back towards Rude. Rude was faster, and spun quickly. He threw his fist at her, and struck her in the face, causing her to drop to the floor. Wedge then lunged at him, and hit him in the back of the head. Rude turned quickly and grabbed Wedge by the face. He slammed him into the floor, and stood back up tall. He was done here, he decided, and went to help Reno.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rude quickly shot past Reno running full speed at Barret; Reno noticed Cloud's eyes follow him.

"You shouldn't be distracted so easily!" Reno said, jumping toward Cloud. Cloud jumped back, just as Reno's baton crashed down where he was standing only moments earlier. Tifa quickly threw a punch at Reno, connecting with his face. Reno staggered, but quickly turned it into a spin. He bashed the baton into the side of Tifa's head, knocking her to the ground. Reno quickly jumped to the side as Cloud's giant sword crashed into the floor next to him. Cloud raised the sword again, and swung it down to cleave Reno in half, Reno barely got the baton above his head. The sword crashed into the baton, knocking Reno to his knee. Cloud went to repeat the blow, but Reno managed to deflect the sword, and trip Cloud. Cloud fell to the side, but before Reno could get to his feet, Tifa ran up and kicked him in the side, sending him sliding across the floor. Reno jumped to his feet, just as Cloud climbed to his next to Tifa.

"God I hate you people." Reno said angrily. "Always planet this, and Shinra that! And you have an arsenal! WHY DON'T YOU LEARN TO DIE?" Reno reached into his pocket, and pulled out a grenade. Cloud and Tifa shifted their stances uneasily. "My orders are to eliminate the terrorist threat by any means necessary. That includes destroying us all."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Reno."

Reno looked over his soldier at his friend. Then looked back as Rude stepped up to his side.

"Lucky for us, we won't have to resort to that." Reno said with a smirk. Then both Reno and Rude charged the other two. Reno swung his baton at Cloud, connecting with his sword. Rude meanwhile, dodged the punch Tifa had thrown at him, and grabbed her by the head. He tossed her to the side, and grabbed Cloud's arm, as he attempted to hit Reno with it. Reno lifted a knee into Cloud's gut, causing him to stagger back. Then Rude pulled his fist, preparing to land a major blow on Cloud, but Tifa jumped up and jumped onto his back, catching him off guard. Meanwhile Reno rushed Cloud, but he caught his weapon. Cloud then raised his sword over his head, preparing to finish the fight. Reno took his opening, lifting a knee to Cloud's crotch. Cloud dropped his sword, and grabbed his self, falling to the floor in pain. Reno turned his attention to Tifa, who was clawing at Rude's eyes. He easily knocked her off.

"Rude, let's finish them quickly." Reno said, Rude nodded in agreement. "Come help me with this guy."

But when the two turned around, what they saw stunned them. Cloud was being carried out of a door by Wedge and Jesse. They spun back towards Tifa, to see that she and Barret were halfway to another door.

"Go after them two, I'll go after…" before Reno could finish, something caught his eye. He quickly checked his pocket, and stared in horror. "Rude, the gasoline! They threw the grenade in the gas!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Fire erupted from the windows of the warehouse as the explosion shook the ground around Cloud's feet. He, Jesse, and Wedge stood outside the ware house, but now Cloud was worried.

"Tifa! Barret!" He yelled.

"What?" responded Tifa's voice.

Cloud watched as his two allies rounded the corner of the former Shinra storage facility. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're dense if you think I'd be taken out by a little bomb spiky." Barret said, a small smirk on his face. Then he turned to Jesse and Wedge. "Where's Biggs?"

Wedge let out a sob and turned away. "He's dead, died instantly." Jesse explained. "As much as it hurt to leave him like that, we can't carry him with us while we've got this mission to finish."

Barret nodded, for a second Cloud thought he saw a tear in his eye. If there as, it was gone within a flash, replaced by a fire.

"Pursue Rufus! Make him pay for our fallen comrade!" Barret ordered.

"Yes sir!" Tifa, Wedge and Jesse replied in unison.

Before another word could be said, there was a roar behind them. Turning, the saw the helicopter rise behind the building before them.

They all stared for a moment, and then it started towards them.

"Everyone, head for the next building!" Barret ordered. And the group started running for cover. The helicopter swooped in close to them, and opened fire on them. A trail of earth began exploding behind them, quickly gaining on them. Just as Jesse and Tifa entered the door, Wedge tripped and fell behind Cloud. The trail quickly moved in on him.

"Wedge!" Barret yelled out as he erupted in smoke and earth. Barret stared in aw of his fallen comrade, overcome by grief of having lost another comrade. He then continued towards the door, as he got near it, he heard the helicopter cease firing.

"Barret, look!" Tifa said.

Barret spun around, and what he saw made him almost cry. Kneeling in front of Wedge, who was still alive, and unharmed, was Cloud. He had his sword in the ground in front of them, using it as a shield.

"Way to go spiky!" Barret called.

The helicopter rose into the sky, and flew away.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The warehouse was silent as Cloud and the others walked through it, to quiet actually, it had Cloud's mind wandering. He was almost sure it was a trap, yet the only option they had was to keep moving forward. If they didn't, Biggs death was in vain. Finally, they came to an opening in the crates. What they found there was shocking.

"I see Tseng was unsuccessful in stopping you." Rufus said. Despite this, he had a smirk on his face.

"Maybe you should have stopped hiding, and taken care of us yourself." Barret challenged. "Then again, that'd be hard to do, at least for a coward like you. Are you ready to die?"

"Why do you fight? It surely isn't truly for the planet."

"You can't talk your way out of this Rufus!" Cloud said.

"I hate to repeat myself. Why do you fight?"

"I don't know why they fight, but I fight for what you did. My hometown, my friends, all killed by your mistakes." Cloud said.

"Yeah, mine too" Barret added.

"I promised him I'd avenge him, I promised to end Shinra's reign on the world." Cloud finished.

Suddenly, the sound of clapping filled the air. Foot steps rang out against the walls, as someone came around the corner of the room.

"Good to see you… Cloud."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Take care of these terrorist, Soldier." Rufus ordered, and turned to flee.

"Cloud… who is…" Tifa started.

"Go after Rufus, all of you!" Cloud ordered. "I'll take care of this myself."

In response, the group quickly ran after him, leaving Cloud to face his past by himself. Rufus ran through the crates with ease, Avalanche on his heels the whole way. Finally he burst through a door into a court yard. When the group followed, they saw the helicopter on the ground. Rufus was getting into it.

"Tseng, take her up and kill them all."

"Yes sir!" Tseng answered, and began taking the chopper up. Tifa and Jesse ran towards the chopper and jumped onto the landing gear just as it lifted off the ground. They hung onto it, leaving the slower Wedge and the injured Barret on the ground. Jesse was the first to reach a standing position, she cranked open the door on the side of the craft. The sound of the engine was louder than the blast of the shotgun as the blast hit Jesse in the shoulder. She fell; luckily Tifa caught her by the leg. The added weight was too much, and Tifa's hand slipped. The two girls fell from the chopper, landing in a pile of old crates below.

"Are you ok?" Tifa asked.

"Yeah, I'll live."

"Ok, stay here, I'm going to find a way to stop that thing."

"Whatever you say."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Cloud Cloud Cloud. How far you've fallen."

"I could say the same."

"ah, but I'm still on the same path I started on. I work for Shinra, you are the one who betrayed your people."

"my people are dead, they went up in flames along with my hometown."

"if you've been there, you'd see it differently. Nibelheim is the exact same as it was prior to us arriving there on our mission."

"Shinra killed Zack."

"If that's true, how am I here right now?"

"…"

-----

"FIRE THE MISSILE" Rufus ordered. Tseng quickly flipped the arming switch and hit the trigger.

"Everyone down!" Barret yelled as the missile fired. The missile barely missed Tifa as she dove to the ground. It crashed into the warehouse where Cloud and Zack were.

"We've got to get up there somehow." Wedge said.

"That's obvious!" Barret responded.

-----

The flames of the explosion caught spread to the wooden crates. Cloud stood staring at Zack, images of Nibelheim flashing into his mind, Sephiroth walking leaving the city, fighting him in the reactor, escaping with Zack.

"You've sided with the enemy." Zack said

"nope, just woke up."

Zack Glared.

-----

"There's a ladder over hear!" Jesse said, pointing to the side of the building.

"You all go, I'll distract it!" Barret said, firing at the helicopter. The rest of the group ran over to the ladder and began to climb.

"Get rid of that pest!" Rufus growled at Tseng, leading him to arm another missile. He hit the trigger, but nothing happened. "What's going on!" Rufus demanded.

"The missile is jammed, I can't fire!" Tseng said.

Seeing an opening, Barret aimed at the missile. The bullets struck it, making it explode, with the chopper with it. The debris flew at the roof where the rest of the group was standing.

"Everyone down!" Tifa cried as the debris flew of their heads. It crashed through the Roof, shaking it violently. Tifa found herself thrown into the air, and flying through the hole. She landed roughly on the floor below.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"You're a fool Cloud!" Zack said. Before Cloud had a chance to respond, there was the sound of an explosion. Seconds later, the roof collapsed as a mass of fire and metal crashed through it. Cloud looked up just as he saw Tifa fall through the hole.

"Tifa!" He yelled, as he started run to catch her.

"Not so fast Cloud!" Zack said, moving to intercept him. Cloud had to jump back to avoid the arc of Zack's sword. "You're not getting away that easy."

Cloud watched in horror as Tifa fell, and fell, and fell until finally slamming into the the hard floor. "Tifa!" he yelled again. He saw her barely move, and was relieved to know she was alive.

"Enough!" Zack yelled, charging at Cloud. Cloud lept back as the massive sword slammed down where he had been standing seconds earlier. He countered with a vertical cleave, Zack rolling out of the way at the last minute. Circling each other, Zack charged in again. Cloud parried the attack, and swung one of his own, cutting into Zack's arm. Zack managed to get his sword up to avoid any massive damage, and kicking Cloud in the groin. Falling to his knees in pain, Cloud dropped his sword. Zack glared at his former friend as he lifted the sword over his head. Just as he was preparing to deliver the finishing blow, the doors of the warehouse burst open, and Barret and the others ran inside. Barret shot at Zack, forcing him to shield himself behind his sword.

"Help Tifa!" Cloud yelled, tackling Zack. To the ground. The gunfire ceased, and Cloud saw the group rushing to Tifa's side.

"Sloppy Cloud!" Zack yelled, taking Cloud's distraction as an opening and throwing Cloud off of him. He jumped up to his feet, and ran for his sword. Cloud caught him by the shoulder, and kicked at the sword, causing it to slide away.

"Your mistake!" Zack said, tripping Cloud. He mounted him, and threw a punch into his face. "You could never take me in hand to hand combat." he taunted, throwing another punch. Cloud felt the blood begin to pour from his nose. Desperately, Cloud lifted his leg into Zack's groin. Zack grunted from the force of the blow, and fell sideways off of him. Groggy from the repeated blows to the head, Cloud climbed to his feet. He was just barely able to get his hands up as Zack grabbed him from behind, and attempted to stab him with a small knife. Struggling to hold the blade away from him, he grunted as he pushed at Zack's arm.

"Give it up Cloud, you can't win." Zack said, pushing harder. The blade slowly lowered, cutting into Cloud's chest. Suddenly, gun fire echoed in the burning warehouse. Cloud managed to push Zack's arm away, as Zack fell to the ground dead.

"You forgot that you were fight Avalanche and not just Cloud." Barret said from across the room. "come on Spikey, let's get out of here."

Grabbing his sword, Cloud stumbled over to everyone else, and they managed to escape the burning building, there great foe vanquished, but there fight for the planet far from over.

The End

A/N Well, I started writing this and then I stopped writing all together. When I finally came back, this and many of my unfinished work remained unfinished. I'm glad that I finally managed to finish this one, almost a year after it began.


End file.
